.zip

PKWare have wisely decided to license its secure .zip technology free of charge to competitors.

Earlier this year the company applied for a patent on a .zip format with increased security. This ruffled feathers around the industry as .zip has been in the public domain for some time and a incompatible .zip format would lead to confusion among end users.

Previous post on the issue:
Is Zip coming undone? - August 12, 2003